I stared at the second chalice like it was a living thing that might strike if I moved too quickly.
The liquid inside was darker than the first glass, so black it didn't reflect light. It absorbed it, pulling illumination from the air around it until shadows gathered at the chalice's base like pooling water. Smoke rose from the surface in thin tendrils that smelled like ash and something sweeter. Vanilla. Jasmine.
Cora's perfume.
My hands trembled where they gripped the edge of the table. I could still taste the first memory on my tongue, metallic and wrong. Could still feel phantom pain in my chest where the bond had snapped, where Luna's fire had burned through me.
"Drink." The Duchess's voice came from directly behind me, though I hadn't heard her move. "Or dissolve. Those are your only choices."
